‘The Witcher’ Season 2: Would Ciri Have Survived the Trial of Grasses Like Geralt?
Part of Ciri’s grand journey in The Witcher Season 2 was facing her fears. Ciri goes to Kaer Morhen with Geralt in the new season and becomes determined to forgo her princess title and train to become a witcher. The witchers and even Geralt somewhat agree she has what it takes.
The possibility of Ciri becoming a witcher was unachievable as the mutagen that created them was destroyed centuries ago. When Ciri’s bloodline reveals the key to the mutagen and the reveal of Ciri’s powers, it has many questioning if the Lion Cub of Cintra could have survived the Trial of Grasses.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for The Witcher Season 2.]
What happens at Kaer Morhen with Ciri?
After arriving at Kaer Morhen, the other witchers and Vesemir are hesitant to accept Ciri. They see her as a frail burden. But Ciri soon proves she is willing to shed blood to become a stronger version of herself. The witchers decide to help her begin the process of training as a witcher. Ciri goes through the same obstacle course, fight training, and eats the herbs and shrooms.
The Witcher Season 2 revealed Ciri’s true bloodline and destiny. Vesemir notices a special flower growing where Ciri’s blood has spilled throughout Kaer Morhen. But the flower only blooms where Elder’s blood has spilled. It leads Vesmir and Triss to assume Ciri is of Elder blood.
Later on, Vesemir convinces Ciri to use her blood for a test. Centuries ago, Elder blood was used to make the mutagen that creates witchers during the Trial of Grasses. The mutagen was later lost. Ciri’s blood proves to be Elder blood, and Vesemir makes the first witcher mutagen elixir in centuries.
Ciri convinces Vesemir to let her go through the Trial of Grasses to become a witcher. Before he does it, he gets a flashback of the many lives lost during the experiments. In the end, Geralt stops them.
Ciri would have unlikely survived the Trial of Grasses in ‘The Witcher’ Season 2
In The Witcher, Geralt has a fever dream of his mother. He explains select few young boys make it through the Trial of Grasses. Fans might be inclined to believe Ciri’s bloodline and powers would be enough to survive the deadly transition to become a witcher. But fans on Reddit think otherwise.
“The trial was made for men, and even then, IIRC, it only had a 30% success rate. The chance that it would work on a woman is very small. Even if it did, what guarantees she wouldn’t be one of the 70%?” said one fan on Reddit. In the second season, Triss scolds the witchers for using concoctions to strengthen Ciri.
One fan theorizes, “the potions used to prepare for the Trials are geared toward men. The other could be as simple as that they are akin to steroids and would basically be shoving testosterone down a young girl.” The Trial of Grasses has an inherent low survival rate, to begin with. It could be Ciri’s body cannot withstand the transformation.
Surviving the Trial of Grasses would lead to side effects
Ciri surviving the Trial of Grasses is a muddled debate. There is a small margin that she could survive like Geralt. Throughout her training at Kaer Morhen and her resilience, Ciri’s chances are considerably greater than a young boy. The question is if Ciri’s bloodline would help?
Some fans believe her Elder blood would not help. The Trial of Grasses changes a person’s DNA and gives them superhuman abilities. Ciri’s Elder blood has shown no concrete evidence that it could withstand the mutagen. The only hint was when Ciri drank the waters of Brokilon.
But fans on Reddit explain, “At the end of the day fact is she doesn’t need the Trial of Grasses. Even if she wants to become a Witcheress her abilities are more than good enough to do so.” If Ciri became a witcher, she would also be left infertile, and it is unknown what other consequence it would lead to.
